Shoe-lace fastener.



J. W. KNAUSE.

SHOE LACE FASTENER.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 22, 1008.

912,690. Patented Feb.16, 1909.

luv en i (W a UNITE JOHN W. KNAUSE, OF COLONIA, NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-LACE FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

Application filed August 22, 1908. Serial No. 449,814.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN V. KNAUsn, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Colonia, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Lace Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention herewith relates to improvements in shoe-lace fasteners, so-called, that is devices of the class which when properly attached to a shoe is adapted for securing the end or ends of the shoe-laccin lieu of the usual manner of tying or knotting it, and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of the members thereof, all as more fully hereinafter set forth and claimed.

I am well aware that various shoe-lace fastening means have been devised prior to my invention, therefore I do not claim such former constructions broadly.

The object I have in view is to produce a comparatively inexpensive lace-fastening device possessing a superior degree of simplicity and efliciency; the same capable of being readily positioned and attached to the inner longitudinal edge portion of one of the flaps of the shoe-upper and at the same time inclose the adjacent marginal part of the latter therein.

Another object of the invention is to locate the lace-fastening device between the two upper lacing-hooks of said edge so that after making a turn of the shoe-lace around the upper hook its free end is then simply passed downwardly and directly into the adjacent resilient jaws of the device or lace holder, thereby preventing the lace from slipping or yielding in the lacing-hook, and in fact maintaining the lace in position more effectively than is attainable by the usual knot-tying operation.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 represents the upper or top portion of a shoe provided with the usual lacinghooks, and showing my improved shoe-lace fastening device combined or associated therewith as in use. Fig. 2 is a side view of the device, in enlarged scale, detached from the shoe. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line :0 a: of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 represent plan views of the base and clip members respectively. Fig. 6 represents the band or strap member before bending. Fig. 7 shows the unbent blank from which the base is produced, and Fig. 8 a modification of it.

My improved shoelace fastening device as a whole is indicated at A. It includes the base member a, the upper or slightly resilient fellow or clip member 6, and the binding strap member 0, all formed from suitable sheetanetal stock. The said bottom or base member a has its front edge portion, a (Fig. 2) bent to form a hook-shaped opening (1 adapted to receive therein the marginal edge e of the shoe-upper u, along which the lacing-hooks Z are suitably spaced and secured in a well-known or usual way. The rear end portion of the base member is provided with oppositely located upwardly extending integral ears a produced by bending the corresponding wings a of the base-blank a shown in Fig. 7. The said rear portion is also prolonged to form an attaching-prong 7) adapted to be inserted through the shoe-upper and then bent thereunder. See also dotted line position, Fig. 2. If desired two prongs may be used in lieu of the single central prong, as indicated in Fig. 8. The base member as drawn has its front end portion provided with a slightly recessed seat a all as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and i. The said upper or fellow member 6, which may be termed a clip, has its front end portion terminate in a shank part b (Fig. 5) somewhat narrower than the base 0, its free end, 5 being well rounded and adapted to extend longitudinally beond and overhang the base. This extension is also bent so as to readily guide or deflect the shoe-lace into the normally closed throat m, Fig. 2. The said shank part may be slightly curved at Z) so as to produce in conjunction with the corresponding portion a of the base a shallow opening 0 adapted to receive and retain therein the end portion of the shoe-lace. The clip I) rests flatwise upon the base and has oppositely formed notches b registering with and arranged to receive the said cars a of the base.

The coupling or strap member 0 is adapted to lie flatwise upon the clip and be bent downwardly and transversely around it and the base, its ends extending flatwise under the latter. See Fig. 3.

In the drawings, Fig. 1, the lacing-hooks Z of the two edges 0 of the flap portion of the upper u are arranged in a staggered manner, thereby permitting a single lacingcord 8 to be used in a zigzag Way. The cord after being inserted in the upper hook is bent completely around. it and readily introduced fiatwise under the spring clip or clamping member 6 and into the shallow space 0, the resiliency of the members of the device serving to frictionally maintain the lacing-cord in place therein.

It may be added that the cord can be easily and quickly withdrawn from the device A when the shoe is to be unlaced.

As before stated, after the shoe-lace s has been inserted in the upper lacing-hook and bent completely around it the lace is then deflected both downwardly and laterally into the throat m and opening 0 of the device, the adjacent curved portions of the members a and Z) in cooperation with the resiliency of the clip serving to frictionally maintain the shoe-lace in position therein. As thus arranged it will be apparent that any strain or force tending to loosen the shoe-lace will be borne wholly by the lacing-hooks, and particularly by the upper hook, therefore the function of the device A is simply to maintain the free end of the lace therein after said hooks and cord have been employed for drawing the lacing edges of the upper together, or to the desired degree or extent. in other words, practically any strain or pull whatever that may be imposed upon the shoe-lace is not borne by or transmitted to the fastening device A.

I claim as my invention and desire to se cure by United States Letters Patent,

1. In a fastening device of the character described, the combination of the thin substantially flat base member having its front end portion bent to form an open hook adapted to receive the lacing edge of a shoeupper and having its rear end portion pro vided with oppositely disposed short upwardly extending integral ears, a resilient clip member resting flatwise upon the upper side of the base member having notches formed in its rear portion arranged to receive said ears and having the outer or free end of the clip bent and adapted to form in cooperation with the base an opening for receiving and frictionally holding a shoelace therebetween, a metal strap snugly bent around the base and clip contiguous to the said ear and notched portions for securing the parts together, and bendable attaching prongs integral with the device for securing it to the shoe-upper.

The combination with a shoe-upper and a plurality of suitably arranged lacing-hooks disposed along each of the two lacing edges or flaps thereof, of a shoe-lace threaded into said hooks, and a lace-fastening device secured at or near the lacing edge of one of the flaps and located immediately below its upper lacing-hook, said device having connected base and clip members bent so as to form a normally closed passage therebetween at its outer or free end portion, constructed and arranged whereby the free end of the shoe-lace after it has been looped around said upper hook may be inserted directly into the said passage of the fastening device and retained therein by frictional contact therewith, substantially as hereinbefore described.

Signed at Rahway, N. J., this 18th day of August, 108.

' JOHN KNAUSE. Witnesses CHAS. H. LAMBERT, BENJAMIN V. HUGHES. 

